Nurturing young filmmakers in Japan to sustain current boom
IT IS delightful that Japan’s cinema world, which has produced a number of movies to global acclaim, is regaining its vitality.
Attendance at the country’s cinemas for the whole of last year topped the 180 million mark for the first time in 42 years. It has returned to the level posted in the first half of the 1970s, when home videos were not common at home yet.
Box office revenues, when those for both Japanese and foreign movies are combined, reached 235.5 billion yen ( RM9.33 billion), up 8.5 per cent from a year earlier and a record high. Revenues from Japanese movies increased markedly, accounting for 63 per cent of the total. In recent years, the trend of Japanese movies holding a dominant position over foreign ones has taken hold.
Fascinating entertainment films are particularly popular, mainly animated ones. The animated romantic fantasy “Kimi no Na wa” ( Your Name) ranked first in terms of box office revenues, and “Shin Godzilla,” a special effects movie on the theme of crisis control, ranked second.
Their popularity spread thanks to word of mouth via social networking services.
Fans making “holy pilgrimages” to locations connected to movies has become a social phenomenon. “Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni” ( In This Corner of the World), an animated drama film set in Hiroshima before and after the city was struck by an atomic bomb, was given the award for best Japanese film of 2016 by Kinema Junpo.
Initially, there were fears that making a screen version of this drama, originally written as a manga, would be difficult due to a shortage of funds.
After crowdfunding was launched to seek contributions from supporters, about 39 million yen was raised, or nearly twice the targeted amount.
This can be said to be a typical example of a work of good quality having been realised thanks to movie fans’ support.
The challenge Japan’s cinema world faces is how the current activity can be maintained and even be invigorated further.
Due to the growing popularity of cinema complexes and other factors, the number of Japanese films released in a year has increased to about twice that of 20 years ago. If attendance is poor, however, opportunities for screenings are reduced.
There have been many films that pass into oblivion in the shadow of mega-hit films.
There may be young producers who are unable to demonstrate their talent because of financial difficulties. Severe working conditions have become a problem at anime production companies.
To nurture human resources who will be the driving force for Japanese movies in the future, it is vital to improve the environment for production.
The Cultural Affairs Agency is working on a project worth about 200 million yen a year to support animation production, targeted mainly at young animators.
Discovering enthusiastic creators will lead to them sending outstanding screen productions out into the world.
Such efforts will then bring fame, facilitating funds for their next production to be collected from businesses and other entities. Such a virtuous cycle should be generated. — Yomiuri Shimbun